Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, Explained + What Was Really True

[@thetake]

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[@christianzafiroglu6705]

With regard to the ending, I saw another message in it. By ending with a radio play, Scorsese implicates us and himself in seeing this story in an entertainment venue. We get the recreation, the sound effects, the imagery, the tracking shots, the lighting of a hellish fire, the shuddering explosions. It’s visceral for us. And, admittedly, entertaining. For the Osage, this was life and death. Scorsese’s final words, spoken with deep sadness and pathos, left me in tears. Crushing.

[@JamesDecker7]

This is what his films always seem to do: show that evil is only mildly punished, and that the long arc of history towards “justice” is faaaaaaar from perfect and is driven only by great effort and sacrifice.

[@Jennylop101]

I saw this message as well!

[@Johnny.bar99]

I like this

[@alexanderk7354]

I believe there can be another interesting message if you just see the final scene as dissonant. And it is not moralizing even though the point of truth is made. But I don't like to spoil good work so I just say that there is more to the movie than general public or their informants can see.

[@jillyd5454]

As an Indigenous person, the unfair and cruel history are common knowledge for us but something i find constantly explaining everyone else. Its nice that stories like this have taught so many other people on mass. In addition, there's such few instances of good Indigenous representation in mainstream media that it was so refreshing to see a movie embrace our communities. Although it was taught by a white perspective, i feel that it elevates the story and makes it easier for wider audiences to understand

[@imblackstar]

All thru history it happens. You get overtaken by the bigger badder group and then you lose your culture. Indians are lucky they got reservations because that has never happened before in history. (A conquered group receives land back). Taking over weaker people isn’t only an American thing.

[@veseyvonveitinghof9593]

"Taking over weaker people isn’t only an American thing"...especially when you think of all the times in history Indian tribes have done it to other Indian tribes...

[@goodmorrowllc]

"Constantly explaining to everyone else" is such an understatement here. This is why the film is so groundbreaking, and it does not matter to me that it took a white director to bring it to the masses! We are like 1% of the population, and this story is a hint as to why!!!

[@goodmorrowllc]

Also the other two people who responded to you... that's the other constant 🙄🙄

[@ablaze861]

The Take didn't answer the question "Did William Hale commit all of the murders?" The answer is, Hale was responsible for about 24 deaths. There were hundreds of murder that were never investigated. The belief is that Hale didn't commit all of the murders, the story simply focused on one story.

[@LeoSzn89]

They didn't sugarcoat any aspects of this movie. Even down to the deaths and the brutality. I did not see it as a "white savior" movie at all. The scene at the table where they were comparing the kids complexions showed how white women also assisted in the oppression and degradation of the Osage people.

[@LebahG4nteng]

1970s : Taxi Driver 1980s : Raging Bull 1990s : Goodfellas 2000s : The Departed 2010s : The Wolf of Wall Street 2020s : Killers of the Flower Moon The king of movie decades, rarely missed and still giving hits at his age of 80. Absolute legend!

[@grapeshot]

And don't forget Gangs of New York. Thank God I die a true American before being shanked in the gut.

[@garad123456]

I like how the names keep getting longer

[@PeterEhik]

Damn that’s hella impressive, quality releases for over 50 years across 6 decades. Is there any other director that prolific over such a long period of time? These are literally some of the best movies of their corresponding decades, some even the best of all time. It’s crazy cause aside from Taxi Driver, I think killers of the flower moon might be his best movie and there’s almost 50 years between them.

[@samf.s.7731]

He's very diverse in terms of his portfolio content. I actually appreciate that. I think, on many occasions, he's been told to "stick to what he does best" in a very "polite and veiled" way by many people. In a very polite way, he didn't. 😂 That's class.

[@Brandonhayhew]

Martin is an absolute legend and each title movie gets longer

[@LebahG4nteng]

This movie was my first ever Scorsese movie to watch in the big screen and god damn it's absolutely worth it. I knew that it was 206 minutes long yet surprisingly i absolutely enjoyed every minute of the movie and didn't get a single bathroom break while watching it. What a magnificent experience, one of my favourite movies of the year. A late career flex for Scorsese giving hits at his age of 80. Absolute legend! 🙌

[@djstarsign]

I was in awe of how conventionally the film felt in the beginning, and how it unfolded into a more confident film that didn’t stick to the familiar beats. There was so much complexity, so much life and unexpected humor throughout the film. So many little threads that stick in your mind. This could have been a tale of good vs evil and painted with the same brushstrokes we’ve become so accustomed to. By the end, when Scorsese delivers the obit, it was so unexpected and there was a humanity in his delivery that gave it a certain resonance to honor the victims of these tragic events. I’ve seen it twice and feel it will be remembered as one of his finest films.

[@nathanboatright236]

In a filmography that has a lot of evil characters I think that ernest and Hale are most evil characters in Scorsese's filmography

[@samfilmkid]

Hale is pure evil. Ernest is more of a wretched figure, like Gollum.

[@jackxiao9702]

And 80 year old man murdering people he befriended for money he probably wouldn’t live to spend. And a man so spineless he follows his uncle in killing his own family.

[@alienboy1322]

I applauded Martin Scorsese for telling an all true story of the eradication of Native Americans and their life stories.

[@veseyvonveitinghof9593]

...he left out the part where Indians did it to each other for several thousand years...how many tribes and life stories that we never knew existed did the Indian themselves eradicate ??...

[@tygressblade]

For more reading on the Osage murders read “the deaths of Sybil Bolton”. It was written in the early 1990’s from the perspective of one of the murder victims’ sons or grandsons.

[@itchimo82]

This reminds me of when Sacheen Littlefeather spoke at the 1973 Oscars in lieu of Marlon Brando. Taking that moment and REALLY making good on it. Can't wait to see it.

[@jennifer.martin.48]

Except that she wasn’t even Native American…she was half white and half Mexican.

[@rittataylor_2000]

Native Americans are already on the verge of extinction they're like 1 to 1.5 percent left in America so they really won't have any representation in govt bodies either so standing up by celebs sayings things need to change won't happen until the system that's governing them changes

[@karrihart1]

The ending felt like, for lack of a better phrase, a passing of the torch. Scorcese was saying to the audience "White people, in particular the white men, we have controlled the narrative of history for long enough. Those days are over."

[@Ironheart73]

I also thought it was sort of reminiscent of the ending of Goodfellas and the Wolf of Wall Street. Yes, the protagonists lost their power but they were not really commensurately punished. They do not so much regret what they did. Only that time caught up with them and changed the game. But I get you, its good that Scorsese brought to light a piece of American history that was silenced

[@imblackstar]

How incredibly racist. The world is bigger than white people/America. If you ever got out from your country, you’d realize there are TONS of brown, black, light skinned people running the world too.

[@Gaggerlotion]

Didn't feel like that at all

[@samfilmkid]

At a time where this part of our history is being banned from being taught in schools, stories like this are more important than ever.

[@jonathanthomas9677]

This was my first time seeing Scorsese in the theater, wouldn’t trade it for anything!

[@prilljazzatlanta5070]

Im only 38 so my first Scorsese in theaters was the Aviator. Still special

[@iambirthdaysuitedup]

I saw the movie yesterday and for one I thought there were some unnessecary lengths in the middle that really dragged the pacing down. I like slow moving films and I have no issue with long ones but in this case it just didn't work for me. And most importantly while I really really appreciate having this topic in a big movie at all I heavily disagree with the notion that the movie told the story from the Osage's POV. If Scorsese realized during (pre?) production that he was making a film about all the white men and from the outside in and he wanted to change that - he failed because that's exactly what I saw in the end product. All the main character focus and progression belonged to the 2 white male main characters while we only saw fragments from Mollie, her family and the Osage (which I enjoyed!). I was frustrated by how much Mollie was sidelined when she first appeared to be such an interesting character. There were some intriguing scenes with the Osage where we got glimpses into their POV and experience but they were short and clearly not what the movie essentially was trying to delve into. Maybe at some point we'll get that big budget movie that actually tells that story and maybe/hopefully this was the first step towards it.

[@UnboxingAlyss]

This is the biggest reason why I haven't seen the movie yet. I LOVE stories about Different BIPOC groups, but I refuse to watch white savior narratives. While some have said it isn't this is what I got from the trailers. I should just go see it, but I don't want my money going to another one of those. The fact that it's gotten high marks doesn't mean much. Many white savior movies do extremely well.

[@iambirthdaysuitedup]

there are no white saviors in this movie. There are only perpetrators who get a voice and victims who get sidelined *in my opinion*

[@amandedooce1476]

I saw the movie just yesterday and I got the same takeaway ! Molly's actress is SO GOOD I'm sad that we lost her in the narrative.

[@user-ml8ud6qd2u]

Oscar worthy. Brilliant story telling. Great characters. Loved the scenery. Though heart breaking it is true history. A story that must be told. And loved both Leonardo and the actress who played Molly in the leads. Loved the movie. 😊

[@Ironheart73]

I understand how the runtime can test someones patience. Scorsese movies are usually long because they are mostly character driven, and he uses the passage of time to show how they are shaped, how they rise and eventually how they fall.

[@februaryschild0216]

We spend more time binging Grey's Anatomy or playing COD. Oppenheimer was only a half hour shorter and it told an opposite story. A white man who developed a devastating weapon used on brown ppls on land stolen from Mexicans and Indigenous people. Then, once it was contaminated he says when asked what to do with Los Alamos; "Give it back to the Indians". People compare the films and miss the irony in doing so.

[@muellerphyllis]

I went to see it last night. I am from that area and I certainly found it unsettling. As a matter of fact, we had an oil well drilled in our pasture. The Osage own the mineral rights to the land.

[@RoseMoser-mf9gh]

I disagree about not needing subtitles to the movie bcuz I have a movie program where it interprets many languages including Osage but unfortunately for some reason only parts of the spoken language but knowing what the sisters are saying about their future and present husbands is absolutely delightful. In all if there had been subtitles throughout the whole movie it would have made the movie much more interesting and delightful 🎉😊

[@Kakarott2023]

The movie was sad but I learned so much

[@verillo14]

I just saw the film, it´s amazing. One of the best movies of the year. But the way they tried to errase history reminded me the "falsos postivos" in Colombia. Basically the army killed inocent people, some of them we´re desable, and pass them of as terrorist. And the worst part is many of the victims´ bodies were disappeared in crematory ovens, like the nazis. But many people has tried to rewrite the facts and conviced as many as they can it didn´t happened

[@charlos51ht]

Some of the killers are still out there. William K Hale was the only one that got caught

[@JamesDecker7]

Yep…those 120yo killers are still out there…in their graves. 😂

[@charlos51ht]

@@JamesDecker7 you know what I meant. They don’t have the stains on their legacy that they should have.

[@JamesDecker7]

@@charlos51ht Neither do millions of other murderers, betrayers, and worse. I choose to focus on improving the present by working at a 638 hospital. What are you doing to improve things beyond focusing on dead murderers not being hated enough?

[@imblackstar]

This was 90 years ago my guy. They are over with 💀

[@sassycaterpillar6631]

In a way, the story wouldnt get as much attention from hollywood and movie goers if it was anyone else but Scorsese, so it's kinda a double layered white savior situation.

[@DerMoerpler]

You could also see it as Scorsese using his platform to elevate the stories and voices of the oppressed.

[@ssissigui8846]

@dermoepler thank you ! Some people like to focus on the bad

[@ScreenFavorites]

@@DerMoerplervoices of the oppressed from the white perspectives? Cool.

[@DerMoerpler]

@@ScreenFavorites The price of this movie existing at all. Guess how many native directors would get a budget of 200 million, a wide release and complete creative freedom for a 3,5 hour historical crime drama. Hell, most white directos won't get that nowadays unless they're named Scorsese, Spielberg, Nolan, Scott or Tarantino. It's not great but that's Hollywood.

[@ScreenFavorites]

@@DerMoerpler I agree next to no one could make this movie at this scale. Yes that’s Hollywood and it sucks, but It’s not the voices of the oppressed, it’s the oppressor telling the story about how they oppressed. There was not enough of this story told from the indigenous perspective for how long it was.

[@pinkyhc4130]

Tbh if you tell me its one of Scorsese's movies I require zero further information, I am down.

[@barbiquearea]

I noticed that in a lot of ways, the character of William King Hale as he was portrayed in this film bears a lot of similarities to Warden Samuel Norton from The Shawshank Redemption. Just like King Hale, Warden Norton also put on a facade as a respectable Southern gentleman type figure who presents himself as pious, straight laced and amiable, while pretending to be a friend and ally of the people under his charge, even carrying around a Bible and quoting scripture to maintain his sanctimonious image. But behind closed doors, Norton was a greedy and corrupt sociopath who exploited his prisoners for personal gain, and would straight up murder them or put them through inhumane punishments if they got in the way of his illegal money making operations. Also both men tried to justify their ruthless treatment of the Osage/Shawshank prisoners by dehumanizing them, as they saw themselves as their moral superior.

[@susannpatton2893]

Problem is, one is real - the other is not

[@Saffron-sugar]

This film explains a well known event to people who wouldn’t listen to anyone but a famous white man. It’s a white person explaining a story to white people. Native people (as well as American historians and sociologists) already know this story. It’s not just white saviour Boomer complex stuff, because it’s far too late. Scorsese stepped up and got this story, a bigger audience.

[@grapeshot]

Yeah I watched the commentary by a Native American and they were saying the movie went dangerously close into the white savior trope.

[@sassycaterpillar6631]

Not a huge fan of the FBI being the hero, but i guess that was a time when they actually worked to solve federal injustice. I guess the way it worked at the time was that because of the systemic disadvantages the native americans were given at the time, it took white people that knew the system to help shine a light on it. The osage did all they could at that time considering the pit of snakes they were in

[@KSxGUAPO]

The original draft of the script yes but definitely not the movie we got

[@SirCamera]

Where and what part?

[@grapeshot]

@SirCamera the person doing the commentary said that, and we do know the book was all about the white guys. And Hollywood does have a long history whenever they're doing subject matter about another group of people when they inject white people into it it is often times the white savior troop or the white guy gets to sleep with all the exotic looking women.

[@UnboxingAlyss]

This is why I haven't watched it yet. I've heard some say it isn't and some say it is. The trailer tells me that it is, as DeCaprio, De Niro, and Plemmons are 80% of what I saw it them.

[@Ranlou]

It’s interesting bc I feel like though the film itself isn’t white savior narrative it operates in white gaze more than anything. I wish the movie went through mollys perspective. It would also be a great meta way to finally not seeing a movie through Leo’s perspective as a main character so we assume he’s a good guy like us audiences normally do but he’s actually evil. Plus I feel like I learned nothing about the culture of the Osage tribe. It just seems like let me show you the oppressed how they die and that’s it. Ain’t it weird that Molly has less lines than the director himself😭

[@kenster8270]

The plot reminded me of that 90s flick Thunderheart (yes, I'm that old!) about tribal corruption, conspiracy and mafias in Indian country, based loosely on the events surrounding the killing of Anna-Mae Aquash. But the whole second half of this movie was such a painfully draaaagged out slow burn explaining to the viewer (ad nauseam!) what gaslighting is. WE GET IT: Leo's character was gaslit into gaslighting his wife. I remember squirming in my seat because my tailbone was sore from all that sitting. Also: Even though I know the historical facts behind the plot from documentaries and podcasts, I was still kinda holding out for some form of retribution and/or redemption at the end. So the ending left me a bit disappointed. I was rooting for Molly to shed her meekness and claim her vengeance. But kudos to Scorsese for including a passing reference to the Tulsa Massacre. If you know, you know. And too many people never learned about that until very recently.

[@travelingnome87]

Omg I could not figure out how in the hell their mom spent $319 on meat in the 1920s. Duuuuh. It was her conservator stealing from her.

[@aurora635]

This might become my new favourite movie

[@kathleenrodrigues8453]

We will NEVER forget!😢❤

[@framesdeanthesunsetters3372]

This is one of his great works. I’m going to see it for the third time today

[@wayneirwin4994]

This is another movie of Scorsese's that should have won Best Picture and Scorsese Best Director

[@martinenyx-filmstuff305]

Beautiful, beautiful analysis! Thank you for sharing

[@whitewolf9547]

This movie was brilliant and it really was amazing to watch in theaters

[@doctordl7757]

I saw this movie 2 days ago I loved it, I'm glad you all did a video on this film 😁

[@kathleenrodrigues8453]

William King Hale was unscrupulous! Evil through an through! Dinero was fantastic!❤

[@Likwidfox]

Set design, casting, makeup second to none even if you don't love the story. Great movie.

[@ilooli]

But what about the carbs???

[@rezoannur2333]

People are complaining that Dicaprio and De Niro were the the main focus but they would've never gotten the greenlight to spend 200 million on this movie without that kind of star power.

[@TheNightmareKidZzz]

Which is an inherent problem, yes.

[@iambirthdaysuitedup]

They could have still been in the movie and driven box office while not being the only characters with major focus and development. For once the relatively unknown female "lead" was part of promotion and I was lead to believe her role would be more substantial. But in the end she was a supporting character, as was everyone else not named DiCaprio and De Niro. It's a missed opportunity

[@rezoannur2333]

in terms of acting credit, she's getting most of the buzz. she accomplished a lot with what she had to work with.

[@rezoannur2333]

this move wouldn't have been made without them

[@UnboxingAlyss]

This is the problem, though. The movie Prey had a all Comanche cast (except the French fur traders) and it did extremely well. Many movies today have all POC casts and also do extremely well.

[@Michael-sz7lp]

How did we get to hear this story if it was lost? Was it written down in historical documents?

[@kathleenrodrigues8453]

Anna was fantastic!❤

[@20marvelman]

Can we please get a proper BCS video

[@dani.dani.dani.dani01847]

"I realized I was making a movie about the white guys". The year is 2024 👍

[@riyazaman5796]

This movie remind me about Palestinian people and how US ,European stole their land.. Free Palestine..

[@rapbattlefan2008]

That land always belonged to the Jews. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

[@riyazaman5796]

@@rapbattlefan2008 How?? who told you?? take a DNA test!!

[@rapbattlefan2008]

@@riyazaman5796 Jews were there for thousands of years. There are Jewish burial grounds there that trace all the way back over 3000 years. I don’t do my research at the University of TikTok

[@askido351]

Evil is relentless in its pursuit.

[@smurfyday]

ignore this. 4:16

[@BWatts-qv3tf]

You spelled Mollie wrong. It’s “Mollie,” not “Molly.” 12:14

[@iannamico]

Pedantic much?

[@peaceful_warrior3479]

part 2

[@murrvvmurr]

1:06 why did the narrator say it that way. Sounds very eyerolley. 🙄 all it needed was an Err merr gerd at the end for full "I disagree with everything I am saying (for money)" effect.

[@natalie651]

Hale didn't weasel out of jail time. Bad research.

[@weronikarak3264]

Watching this movie is a pain, but the movie itself is good only if it not goes on forever. Couldn't it be more drawn out and drawn out? This story could have been told in 2 hours, almost 3.5 hours was definitely too long. I don't recommend going to the cinema, it's better to watch it at home in two parts. They could have made it into a 4-episode mini-series - this amount of time proves that the director made the film for himself rather than for the audience. This movie is like a too long conversation that tires you and bores you until at the end you don't even want to take part in it because you only think when the hell will it end?!?

[@daweithisisdavidinmandarin6121]

As much as I like Scorsese and as good as this movie is, it is such an infuriating story that I cannot say I would recommend it. It is a movie that uses humor to swallow such a bitter pill and it is so well done that it creates strong negative emotions. Not a movie for our trying times.

[@medilies]

5:36 Palestine mentionned

[@mashpotato788]

I lost interest because there was no subtitle for Indian dialogues. I better rewatch it with the subtitles 😊 6:19

[@sdarling6518]

This movie could have been about 30 minutes shorter and featured more brown people.

[@jacksondebbarma7644]

take care looks like you voice is breaking might be you have been speaking so much that by the time it was time for video recording you voice seems to have broken down thats why you patreon clip voice wws bit different than your original or authentic voice anyways i feel i should tell you this on comment so that you can give time to yourself by not worrying too much about your your content and give time to your body as well am sorry if i have upset you but my intentions was to remind you about your health as you much have deeply into your content or u mush ahve been consumed by your content what to create research on a topic etc so thatws what it is like to me but you take care of urself thats all if my comment could get youe attention towards ur health than thats all i wanted and my aim is fullfilled to the point bullseye

[@chiefgooeey]

Great video last minute and a half is garbage tho

[@valmarsiglia]

Lol. He still "made a movie about all the white guys." Then he shoehorned in some nonsensical love story.

[@isabelfernandes778]

💜💜💜

[@ShayanGivehchian]

Its a good movie but far from a masterpiece.

[@bolder2009]

Its interesting to see this one sided critical acclaim play out. Having watched it in an Imax theatre on the day of its release, I don't fall into the camp that proclaim it to be a masterpiece, but each to their own.

[@snubdawg1386]

this is a scorsese movie? ....interesting historical story but the movie is boring to me....i can tell you whole story in 5min and it was already clear in which way this movie is heading after 5min...waste of 3 hours lifetime

[@ip7932]

Please lose the music behind your speech. It is annoying and totally unnecessary.

[@dgh25]

jews and masons...

[@dabestmochi]

TOOO LONG

[@terencereyes696]

Overhyped beyond measure. It's definitely not his best work.

[@KSxGUAPO]

It’s not but it absolutely deserves the hype. To me at least 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@susannpatton2893]

It was a real life event, not a wrote for Hollywood script. Get over yourself

[@terencereyes696]

@@susannpatton2893the script is not my problem with this movie stupid 🤣

[@robb5270]

Movie is woke trash

[@doctordl7757]

Lmao you mad ? I love it when you white guys get upset at your own history!

[@djblayzemusic]

You would say this wyt boy.

[@har8397]

No. Just looks like boring subject matter

[@greyLeicester]

A hard pass for me

[@noone-qg1od]

Was torture to sit through. Worst film ever.

[@AnNgo-uk1gf]

Downvote. Too much unnecessary overanalysis

[@sherrodjoyce7262]

Oppenheimer was better. This movie was authentic, but a lot of scenes could have been cut out. Did we really need to see Molly rolling in the bed of her illness? We knew she was sick. Was the theatre play ending necessary? A lot more unnecessary scenes. I feel like Martin Scorsese made this movie long, just because he could.